Durable mass data storage device cartridge

ABSTRACT

This disclosure includes an elastic shock mount for a mass data storage device cartridge comprising a shock mount body forming a void configured to receive a mass data storage device; and a set of elastic shock mount protrusions extending outward from the shock mount body. The elastic shock mount protrusions are configured to transfer shock forces experienced by the cartridge housing to durable portions of the mass data storage device.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/055,877, filed May 23, 2008, the entire content of which isincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The need for portable data storage devices including large data storagecapacities continues to increase. For example, portable data storagedevices store movies, audio, personal information, still pictures, mapsor other navigation information, or the like. These uses make largestorage capacities and high data transfer rates desirable.

One common high-capacity data storage device with a relatively fast datatransfer rate is a disc drive. A disc drive may include a housingencasing a magnetic disc, on which data is stored, a magnetic read andwrite head that reads data from and writes data to the magnetic disc,and control electronics that control the operation of the disc drive.Disc drives are commonly used in computers, personal media players andother devices.

SUMMARY

The disclosure includes an elastic shock mount for a mass data storagedevice cartridge comprising a shock mount body forming a void configuredto receive a mass data storage device; and a set of elastic shock mountprotrusions extending outward from the shock mount body. The elasticshock mount protrusions are configured to transfer shock forcesexperienced by the cartridge housing to durable portions of the massdata storage device.

These and various other features and advantages will be apparent fromthe description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate an assembly including example cartridge enclosinga disc drive.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate the cartridge of FIGS. 1A-1C with the top coverremoved to show an elastic shock mount surrounding the disc drive withinthe cartridge housing.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate an example flexible interconnect.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating an example cradle for acartridge.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an example cartridge insertedin an example cradle.

FIGS. 6A-6B are cut-away views of the cradle and cartridge of FIG. 5showing the cartridge secured within the cradle by a flexible detent.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Because of the advantages of disc drives, e.g., high data storagecapacities and relatively high data transfer rates, disc drives havefeatures that are desirable in portable data storage devices. However,standard disc drives are not modular or durable. The techniquesdisclosed herein may be used to increase the suitability of a disc driveas a portable data storage device, e.g., by improving durability. Forexample, a disc drive can be encased within a cartridge including ahousing and shock protection to protect the disc drive from the externalenvironment, such as, for example, dust, moisture, mechanical forces,and the like. A cartridge housing also provides a form factor that maybe transported by a user and connectors that are robust to allowrepeated insertion and removal of the disc drive from electronicdevices.

A cartridge may include features that protect a disc drive enclosed bythe cartridge housing. In some examples, the cartridge includes aflexible interconnect that electrically couples a data port of the discdrive to an external connector physically coupled to the cartridge. Insome examples, the data port of the disc drive is a different physicalspecification than the external connector of the cartridge. For example,the data port of the disc drive may comprise a Serial AdvancedTechnology Attachment (SATA) port, and the external connector of thecartridge may comprise an Information Versatile Disk for Removable usage(iVDR) connector. The first end of the flexible interconnect maycomprise an external electrical connector, such as, for example, an iVDRconnector, and the second end of the flexible interconnect may comprisean internal electrical connector, such as, for example, a SATAconnector. The flexible interconnect may comprise at least one flexibleconductor between the first and second ends, such as, for example, oneor more flexible wires, a flexible ribbon cable, or the like. In someexamples, the flexible conductors may couple to the external electricalconnector substantially perpendicular to a data port of the externalelectrical connector and may couple to the internal electrical connectorsubstantially perpendicular to a data port of the internal electricalconnector. The flexible interconnect may lessen the extent to which anabrupt mechanical force applied to the cartridge is transmitted to thedisc drive.

The cartridge may also comprise an elastic shock mount within thecartridge housing, which surrounds the disc drive and mechanicallydecouples the disc drive from the cartridge housing. The elastic shockmount limits shock forces applied to the cartridge housing fromtransferring to the disc drive. The elastic shock mount may also includeprotrusions extending between an external surface of the disc drive andan interior surface of the cartridge housing. In this manner, the discdrive “floats” within the cartridge housing. Further, the elastic shockmount protrusions may be located adjacent to relatively durable portionsof the disc drive and non-adjacent to more fragile portions of the discdrive such that forces transferred from a shock to the cartridge housingare distributed to the disc drive in a favorable manner. For example,the protrusions may be located adjacent to corners and edges of the discdrive and non-adjacent to moving parts of the disc drive such as thespindle motor, media discs and actuator assembly.

FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate a durable disc drive cartridge protecting a discdrive. More specifically, FIG. 1A shows perspective views of an examplecartridge 100 that encloses disc drive 50, FIG. 1B shows an explodedview of cartridge 100 and disc drive 50, and FIG. 1C shows a cut-awayview of cartridge 100 with disc drive 50.

Cartridge 100 provides a dust and moisture resistant seal around discdrive 50, and includes a cartridge housing including top cover 101,bottom portion 102, and connector adapter 105. Top cover 101 is securedto bottom portion 102 via screws 119 (FIG. 1B), whereas connectoradapter 105 is simply secured between top cover 101 and bottom portion102. Cartridge 100 also includes flexible interconnect 400, whichelectrically couples to disc drive 50 to provide an electricalconnection from disc drive 50 to cradle 200 (FIG. 5) and elastic shockmount 103. As shown in FIG. 1A, external connector 414 is exposed to theexternal environment outside cartridge 100 to permit an electronicconnection to disc drive 50.

Disc drive 50 may comprise, for example, a 2.5-inch form factor discdrive, a 1.8-inch form factor disc drive, a 1.0-inch form factor discdrive or the like. Alternatively, disc drive 50 may be substituted witha solid-state data storage memory, such as a flash memory based storagedevice or other mass data storage device. Disc drive 50 is at leastpartially surrounded by elastic shock mount 103, which provides shockabsorption and at least partially mechanically decouples disc drive 50from top cover 101 and bottom portion 102 of cartridge 100.

Elastic shock mount 103 forms void 105, which sized to receive discdrive 50. In the illustrated example, elastic shock mount 103 is aunitary component and may be molded as a single part from a homogenouselastomer. For example, elastic shock mount 103 may be molded from anysuitable elastomer including volcanic and aromatic elastomers. In someexamples, elastic shock mount 103 may be molded from Vestenamer® 8012,available from Struktol Corporation of America, Stow, Ohio (Vestenamer®is a registered trademark of Chem,sche Werke Huels Aktiengesellschaft,Germany). While elastic shock mount 103 is a unitary component, inalternative examples, an elastic shock mount may be formed frommultiple, disjointed components.

In some examples, cartridge 100 may provide electromagnetic interference(EMI) protection for disc drive 50 with an EMI shielding layersurrounding disc drive 50. For example, cartridge 100 may includeconductive paint on the inner or outer surface of the cartridge housing.As another example, an EMI shielding bag surrounding disc drive 50 maybe included within cartridge 100. In such examples, the EMI shieldingbag may either be located within void 105 or encompassing elastic shockmount 103.

Cartridge 100 includes gripping surface 104 in top cover 101. Grippingsurface 104 includes a plurality of indentations to improve a grip of auser on cartridge 100 when inserting or removing cartridge 100 from acradle, such as cradle 200 (FIG. 4). In other examples, surface 104 mayinclude a rough texture, one or more projections, or more or fewerindentations than illustrated in FIG. 1A. In some examples, cartridge100 may not include a gripping surface.

As shown in FIG. 1A, cartridge 100 includes a variety of features formounting cartridge 100 within a cradle, such as cradle 200 (FIG. 4).Cartridge 100 includes a slot 106 on each long side 112, 114 (the slot106 on side 112 is not shown in FIG. 1A) which aligns with acorresponding projection 202 on cradle 200 (FIG. 4) to assist a user inaligning external connector 414 with a corresponding connector 204 oncradle 200. Slot 106 may be vertically off-center to prevent a user frominserting cartridge 100 in cradle 200 in the wrong orientation, whichmay damage external connector 414 or connector 204 of cradle 200 or discdrive 50.

Cartridge 100 also includes detent 108, which engages with correspondingtab 206 on cradle 200 to releasably secure cartridge 100 in the cradle200. Cartridge 100 may include a similar detent 108 on side 112. Inother examples, cartridge 100 may include more than two detents.Further, in some examples, tabs 206 may lock cartridge 100 in cradle 200when cartridge 100 is in use to prevent cartridge 100 from beingwithdrawn and damaging electrical components in a host device, cradle200 or disc drive 50.

Cartridge 100 also may include one or more locking indents 110. In theexample illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C, cartridge 100 includes two lockingindents located proximate slot 106 on side 114. While not shown in FIG.1A, cartridge 100 may also include locking indents 110 on side 112. Inother examples, locking indents 110 may releasably lock cartridge 100 inengagement with cradle 200 to prevent removal of cartridge 100 fromcradle 200 while in use, similar to a locking tab 206.

External connector 414 may be either a male or a female connector, andconnector 204 of cradle 204 may be a complimentary female or maleconnector. In some examples, external connector 414 may compriseconnectors as defined by the Information Versatile Disk for Removableusage (iVDR) specification. Each of external connectors 414 and 204 mayinclude a plurality of electrical pins that mate with each other andform and electrical connection between external connector 414 andconnector 204. For example, each of external connectors 414 andconnector 204 may include 26 electrical pins or other discreteconnectors.

As shown in FIG. 1C, protrusions 150 provide gaps 155 between aninterior surface of the cartridge housing and an external surface ofdisc drive 50. As examples, gaps 155 may be at least one millimeter, atleast two millimeters, at least three millimeters or even at least fivemillimeters.

In addition, routing flexible conductors 420 of flexible interconnect400 as shown in FIG. 1C may effectively increase the buffer spacebetween external electrical connector 404 and internal electricalconnector 406. In some examples, cartridge 100 (including an elasticshock mount surrounding the disc drive 50) provides at least threemillimeters of travel in any direction between disc drive 50 and anadjacent hard surface, such as top cover 101, bottom portion 102, orexternal electrical connector 404. In contrast, routing flexibleconductors 420 within the volume between external electrical connector404 and internal electrical connector 406 may effectively decrease theamount of travel between external electrical connector 404 and internalelectrical connector 406 by the thickness of the flexible conductors420. Thus, routing flexible conductors 420 such that they do not extendinto the volume between external electrical connector 404 and internalelectrical connector 406 increases the travel distance provided betweenexternal electrical connector 404 and internal electrical connector 406.

As also shown in FIG. 1C, external electrical connector 404 is offset adistance 461 relative to the internal electrical connector 406 in adirection perpendicular to insertion direction 411 (FIG. 3B) of theinternal electrical connector 406. This configuration allows externalelectrical connector 404 to be adjacent to the bottom surface of thecartridge housing. The bottom surface of the cartridge housing isparallel to insertion direction 415 (FIG. 3B) of external electricalconnector 404. In cartridges without shock protection such as thatprovided by elastic shock mount 103, an external electrical connector isnaturally in-line with the internal electrical connector and adjacent tothe bottom surface of the cartridge housing. In contrast, in cartridge100, elastic shock mount 103 separates internal electrical connector 406from the cartridge housing to provide gap 155. By locating externalelectrical connector 404 adjacent to the bottom surface of the cartridgehousing, external electrical connector 404 is in the same place relativeto the bottom surface of the cartridge housing as in cartridges withoutshock protection. This allows the same cradle to be used to receivecartridges without shock protection as well as to receive cartridge 100.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate cartridge 100 with top cover 101 removed. Elasticshock mount 103 surrounds disc drive within cartridge 100 tomechanically decouple disc drive 50 from cartridge 100. Elastic shockmount 103 includes protrusions 150 extending between an external surfaceof disc drive 50 and an interior surface of the cartridge housing. Inthis manner, disc drive 50 “floats” within cartridge 100. This limitsshock forces applied to cartridge 100 from transferring to disc drive50. Protrusions 150 provide gaps 155 between an interior surface of thecartridge housing and an external surface of disc drive 50. As examples,gaps 155 may be at least one millimeter, at least two millimeters, atleast three millimeters or even at least five millimeters.

Further, elastic shock mount protrusions 150 are located adjacent torelatively durable portions of disc drive 50 and non-adjacent to morefragile portions of disc drive 50 such that forces transferred from ashock to the cartridge housing are distributed to the disc drive in afavorable manner. For example, the protrusions may be located adjacentto corners and edges of disc drive 50 and non-adjacent to moving partsof disc drive 50 such as the spindle motor, media discs and actuatorassembly. More specifically, protrusions 150 may each be positioned tointersect a plane coplanar to wall of the disc drive housing of discdrive 50. In this manner, shock forces transferred from cartridge 100 todisc drive 50 via protrusions 150 will act upon the substantially stiffportions of the disc drive housing and not deflect the relativelyfragile walls of the disc drive housing.

At the top and bottom, disc drive 50 is supported by four of protrusions150. Comparatively, disc drive 50 is supported by only two protrusions150 from the sides and ends. For this reason, protrusions 150 on thesides and ends of disc drive 50 may be stiffer than the protrusions onthe top and bottom of disc drive 50 such that the net stiffness providedby protrusions 150 is about the same in each direction.

The top cover 101 and the bottom portion 102 of cartridge 100 includeslots to hold protrusions 150 as well as elastic shock mount 103 inplace. Because disc drive 50 is secured within elastic shock mount 103,disc drive 50 is also held in place via elastic shock mount 103. Adetail view of protrusions 150A and 150B as well as slots 140A and 140Bis shown in FIG. 2C. Protrusions 150A and 150B mate with slots 140A and140B respectively.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate an example flexible interconnect 400. Flexibleinterconnect 400 includes external electrical connector 404 and internalelectrical connector 406 coupled by flexible conductors 420. Externalelectrical connector 404 couples to a host device, such as, for example,cradle 200. Internal electrical connector 406 couples to data port 53 ofdisc drive 50. In the illustrated example, external electrical connector404 comprises a iVDR connector and internal electrical connector 406comprises a SATA connector. In other examples, external electricalconnector 404 or internal electrical connector 406 may comprise otherconnectors, such as, for example, an parallel advanced technologyattachment (PATA) connector, a universal serial bus (USB) connector, anIEEE 1394 connector, or the like.

As best seen in FIG. 3B, in some examples, the flexible conductors 420may be coupled to external electrical connector 404 and internalelectrical connector 406 in a substantially perpendicular orientation.That is, flexible conductors 420 may exit external electrical connector404 approximately perpendicular to insertion direction 411 of plugportion 410 of external electrical connector 404. Plug portion 410 isthe portion of external electrical connector 404 which comprises theelectrical pins 412 which engage with electrical connections in the hostdevice and establish electrical communication between the host device,such as cradle 200, and the cartridge. Similarly, flexible conductors420 may exit internal electrical connector 406 approximatelyperpendicular to insertion direction 415 of plug portion 414 of internalelectrical connector 406. Again, plug portion 414 of internal electricalconnector 406 is the portion which comprises the electrical pins 416which engage with electrical connections of a data port of the discdrive (e.g., data port 53 of disc drive 50). The perpendicularorientation of the flexible conductors 420 relative to externalelectrical connector 404 and internal electrical connector 406 allowsflexible conductors 420 to be routed within a cartridge such that noportion of flexible conductors 420 lies in a volume defined by the spacebetween the external electrical connector 404 and the internalelectrical connector 406.

Flexible conductors 420 assist elastic shock mount 103 in mechanicallydecoupling disc drive 50 from top cover 101 and bottom portion 102 ofcartridge 100. For example, external electrical connector 404 may berigidly attached to bottom portion 102 and/or top cover 101 of cartridge100. If internal electrical connector 406 were rigidly connected toexternal electrical connector 404, this would mechanically couple discdrive 50 to cartridge 100, and would transmit at least some mechanicalforces experienced by cartridge 100 to disc drive 50, risking damage ofdisc drive 50 and possible corruption or loss of data stored by discdrive 50. However, flexible conductors 420 reduce or substantiallyeliminates the mechanical coupling between disc drive 50 and cartridge100, which, along with elastic shock mount 103, protects disc drive 50from mechanical forces, which in turn protects data stored by disc drive50.

Flexible conductors 420 may comprise, for example, a ribbon wire, aplurality of individual or twisted pair wires, a flexible circuit, orthe like. In examples in which flexible conductors 420 comprises aribbon connector or a flexible circuit, flexible conductors 420 maycomprise a plurality of longitudinal slits extending for at least aportion of flexible conductors 420 in a longitudinal direction betweenexternal electrical connector 404 to internal electrical connector 406.The longitudinal slits may improve flexibility of the flexibleconductors 420 in a lateral direction.

Flexible conductors 420 include a set of conductors which each connect arespective one of electrical pins 412 to a respective one of electricalpins 416. The set of conductors may be individually encapsulated inelectrical insulation, or may be encapsulated in common insulation, suchas a ribbon wire. Alternatively, flexible conductors 420 may be printedas a flexible circuit.

The conductors of flexible conductors 420 may be divided into one ormore groups, each of which conducts specific electrical signals. Forexample, when external electrical connector 404 comprises an iVDRconnector and internal electrical connector 406 comprises a SATAconnector, external electrical connector 404 may comprise electricalpins 416 numbered 1-7 and 12-26. Pins 1-7 may be used for communicationport A of the disc drive (e.g., disc drive 50) according to the SATAspecification, pins 15-20 are used for power and ground, pins 21-25 areused for identification, and pin 26 is reserved for testing. Internalelectrical connector 406 may comprise, for example, 22 pins, and pins1-7 may be used for communication port A, pins 8-16 for power andground, and pins 17-22 for identification.

Constructing flexible interconnect 400 to include flexible conductors420 that exit external electrical connector 404 and internal electricalconnector 406 substantially perpendicular to plugs 414 and 410,respectively may provide advantages. As a result of the mechanicalcoupling between external electrical connector 404 and the housing ofcartridge 100, if external electrical connector 404 and internalelectrical connector 406 are too rigidly mechanically coupled, amechanical force applied to cartridge 100 will be transferred to discdrive 50, which may cause a read/wire head of disc drive 50 to crash anddamage a magnetic disc in disc drive 50, potentially rendering at leastsome of the data stored by the magnetic disc corrupt or unreadable. Ifthe mechanical force is sufficient, disc drive 50 may be damaged to anextent such that the entire disc drive 50 is non-functional.

However, by mechanically decoupling external electrical connector 404and internal electrical connector 406, the transfer of force between thetwo connectors 506 and 507 is limited, thus providing further mechanicalprotection for disc drive 50.

As previously mentioned, FIG. 4 illustrates cradle 200. In addition,FIG. 5 illustrates cartridge 100 inserted into cradle 200, and FIGS.6A-6B are cut-away views of cartridge 100 inserted into cradle 200.

Cradle 200 forms bay 201, which is sized to receive cartridge 100.Cradle 200 provides connector 204, which mates with external connector414 to electrically connect disc drive 50 within cartridge 100 to cradle200 via flexible interconnect 400. Cradle 200 also includes connector256 to connect cradle 200 to a host device and/or a power supply (notshown). In addition, cradle 200 includes features for securing cartridge100 within bay 201.

As an example, cradle 200 includes projections 202, which engage slots106 of cartridge 100 to align cartridge 100 within cradle 200. Asanother example, cradle 200 includes tabs 206, which engage detents 108of cartridge 100 to releasably secure cartridge 100 in cradle 200. Tabs206 may lock cartridge 100 in cradle 200 when cartridge 100 is in use toprevent cartridge 100 from being withdrawn and damaging electricalcomponents in a host device, cradle 200 or disc drive 50. Tabs 206 maysimply be a protrusion, or may also include a slit in the wall of cradle200 to increase the flexibility of tabs 206. Other techniques forpositively securing cartridge 100 in cradle 200 are also possible.

Shock Testing

Cartridge 100 provides a protective enclosure for disc drive 50. Anexample built according to the above description has passed a shock testincluding dropping a cartridge and disc drive assembly from a height of1.5-2.0 meters on to a 50-millimeter thick lauan plywood on concrete(equivalent to MIL-STD-810C). The cartridge and disc drive assembly wasdropped in a variety of orientations including: bottom, top, right side,left side, rear (upper connector), front (lower connector), rear rightedge, rear left edge, front left edge, front right edge, for a total ofdrops per tested assembly.

The testing techniques apply more than 900 G (8,820 m/s²) to the case ofa cartridge. The shock measured when cartridge and disc drive assemblywas dropped on the lauan plywood from 20 centimeters (cm) high isequivalent to the shock caused when the cartridge and disc driveassembly is dropped on a carpeted floor from 70 cm high.

Following the testing, the cartridge showed no visible or structuraldamage, but may have required reassembly following the testing and/orbetween drops. In addition, the disc drive experienced no errors fromthe shocks as confirmed by a surface scan of the media surface.

The implementations described above and other implementations are withinthe scope of the following claims.

1. An assembly comprising: a mass data storage device; an cartridgehousing encasing the mass data storage device; and an elastic shockmount between an interior surface of the cartridge housing and anexternal surface of the mass data storage device, wherein the elasticshock mount includes a set of elastic shock mount protrusions configuredto transfer shock forces experienced by the cartridge housing to durableportions of the mass data storage device.
 2. The assembly of claim 1,wherein the elastic shock mount further includes a shock mount bodyforming a void configured to receive a mass data storage device, whereinthe elastic shock mount protrusions extending outward from the shockmount body.
 3. The elastic shock mount of claim 2, wherein the elasticshock mount is a unitary component.
 4. The assembly of claim 1, whereinthe elastic shock mount protrusions are positioned to intersect planescoplanar to walls of the mass data storage device housing.
 5. Theassembly of claim 1, wherein the cartridge housing includes slots oninterior surfaces of the cartridge housing corresponding to the elasticshock mount protrusions to hold the elastic shock mount in place withinthe cartridge housing.
 6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the elasticshock mount substantially surrounds the mass data storage device toprevent the mass data storage device from contacting the interiorsurface of the cartridge housing.
 7. The assembly of claim 6, whereinthe elastic shock mount is configured to allow the mass data storagedevice to travel at least one millimeter in any direction within thecartridge without contacting the cartridge housing.
 8. The assembly ofclaim 6, wherein the mass data storage device is a disc drive.
 9. Theassembly of claim 1, further comprising a flexible interconnect, theflexible interconnect including: an external electrical connectormechanically coupled to the cartridge; an internal electrical connectormechanically and electrically coupled to a data port of the mass datastorage device; and a set of flexible electrical conductors electricallycoupling the external electrical connector to the internal electricalconnector, wherein the external electrical connector is offset relativeto the internal electrical connector in a direction perpendicular to aninsertion direction of the internal electrical connector.
 10. Theassembly of claim 1, further comprising a flexible interconnect, theflexible interconnect including: an external electrical connectormechanically coupled to the cartridge; an internal electrical connectormechanically and electrically coupled to a data port of the mass datastorage device; and a set of flexible electrical conductors electricallycoupling the external electrical connector to the internal electricalconnector, wherein the flexible electrical conductors are routed withinthe cartridge such that no portion of the set of flexible electricalconductors lies in a volume defined by the space between the externalelectrical connector and the internal electrical connector.
 11. Theassembly of claim 1, wherein the cartridge housing includes one or moredetents, the assembly further comprising a cradle to receive thecartridge housing, wherein the cradle includes flexible tabs configuredto positively secure the cartridge housing in the cradle when thecartridge housing is inserted in the cradle.
 12. An elastic shock mountfor a mass data storage device cartridge comprising: a shock mount bodyforming a void configured to receive a mass data storage device; and aset of elastic shock mount protrusions extending outward from the shockmount body, wherein the elastic shock mount protrusions are configuredto transfer shock forces experienced by the cartridge housing to durableportions of the mass data storage device.
 13. The elastic shock mount ofclaim 12, wherein the elastic shock mount protrusions are positioned tointersect planes coplanar to walls of the mass data storage devicehousing.
 14. The elastic shock mount of claim 12, wherein the elasticshock mount protrusions substantially surround the void configured toisolate the mass data storage device from a cartridge housing of themass data storage device cartridge.
 15. The elastic shock mount of claim12, wherein the shock mount protrusions each extend at least onemillimeter outward from the shock mount body.
 16. The elastic shockmount of claim 12, wherein the shock mount protrusions each extend atleast three millimeters outward from the shock mount body.
 17. Theelastic shock mount of claim 12, wherein the elastic shock mount is aunitary component.
 18. A portable data storage device comprising: a massdata storage device; a cartridge housing encasing the mass data storagedevice; and an elastic shock mount between an interior surface of thecartridge housing and an external surface of the mass data storagedevice, wherein the elastic shock mount includes means for transferringshock forces experienced by the cartridge housing to durable portions ofthe mass data storage device.
 19. The portable data storage device ofclaim 18, further comprising a flexible interconnect, the flexibleinterconnect including: an external electrical connector mechanicallycoupled to the cartridge; an internal electrical connector mechanicallyand electrically coupled to a data port of the mass data storage device;and a set of flexible electrical conductors electrically coupling theexternal electrical connector to the internal electrical connector,wherein the flexible electrical conductors are routed within thecartridge such that no portion of the set of flexible electricalconductors lies in a volume defined by the space between the externalelectrical connector and the internal electrical connector.
 20. Theportable data storage device of claim 18, wherein the elastic shockmount is configured to allow the mass data storage device to travel atleast three millimeters in any direction within the cartridge withoutcontacting the cartridge housing.